What is Studying
by kuroange1
Summary: Ruby and Karen are studying in a coffee shop when Karen is caught doing something other than studying. Teasing ensues. Oneshot written for the annual IkeKaren tradition. Merry (belated) Christmas!


Warnings: I'm fandom rust and this is pretty poorly written so apologies in advance..

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><p>"What are you doing?"<p>

The brunette snapped out of her trance with a jolt, one that she concealed as she smoothed her features into a puzzled smile. "What?" She asked her friend as she glanced down at her textbook then her notebook. "...I'm just studying? Is there a problem?"

Ruby took a long sip out of her frappuccino, a mischievious glint in her eye as she put her pencil down. "No problem at all. You just seemed so _absorbed_ in what you were doing I didn't think it could possibly be something as drab as _studying." _She chuckled as she set her drink down. "But since you've been working so long..." The blonde drawled out her sentence, leaning forward to reach for Karen's notebook. "You wouldn't mind taking a little break to compare notes, right?"

The brunette yanked her notebook back, forcing her voice to come out even- to come out calmly and cooly. "Nuh-uh Ruby, these are my notes, you can make your own. I've been working on these for the past two hours. _You can't look at them."_

"Come on Karen, don't be stingy." The mischievious glint was still in her eyes as she persisted. "I'll even buy you a drink, you really should take a break since you've been working for the past _two hours_." The smirk on her face widen just a fraction as the brunette nervously bit her lower lip, eyes filled with panic as she searched for an excuse.

Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, um- Wait hold on." She shuffled through the papers on the table and then her backpack, laughing nervously as she pulled out an identical notebook. "My bad, I used the wrong notebook to do the practice problems. Here are my _math notes_." She handed them over, tossing them on top of Ruby's textbook.

The other girl looked at the offered notebook, then back up at Karen. Her smirk didn't fade as she pointed to the notebook in the brunette's hands. "But I wanted to see your _history_ notes. I think we've been working on _math_ long enough..." She advanced again, refusing to let up.

Karen gripped her notebook tighter, refusing to blatantly shout NO! "My notes are terrible, I'm sure you wouldn't learn anything from them..." The flimsy excuse didn't deter Ruby at all. In fact, the other girl hummed as the glint in her eye remained.

"Karen... You wouldn't have anything to _hide_, now would you? What harm is there in letting me take a quick glance at your notes..." The brunette panicked as she drew blanks trying to come up with an excuse. Ruby's hand drew closer and closer as the seconds ticked by.

She considered just bolting for the door. No, but her stuff was here and she couldn't just abandon it- "H-Hey!" Suddenly the blonde had lunged forward and snatched the notebook out of her hands while she was devising a plan of escape. The brunette blushed as Ruby turned to the most recent page. The blush turned a deep crimson as her friend let up a low whistle. That fucking smirk never left her face.

"Well damn, if it makes you feel any better-"

"NOTHING. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY COMMENTS. GO BUY ME MY GODDAMN LATTE RUBY." Karen hissed out, snatching her notebook back as the blonde laughed. She hurriedly closed the notebook and shoved it deep into her backpack. Ruby pushed her chair away from the table, getting up to buy Karen the drink she promised.

"I'll be back shortly." She sniggered again as she grabbed her wallet. "Enjoy your _studying." _She even threw in an eyebrow wiggle before quickly running to get in line.

Karen buried her face in her hands, groaning as she stole a glance at her backpack. She had spent the last two hours sketching a detailed profile picture of Ike. The end result was something she was proud of but- But having someone else see the picture just reminded her that she spent _two hours_ drawing _Ike._ When Ruby returned with her latte, she refused the urge to throw her textbook at the smirking girl.

"He's beautiful Ka-"

"If you know what's good for you, you'd shut up and continue studying."

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><p>Ike's breath came out in white whisps as he clutched his mocha closer. He was practically shivering in the cold winter air. "And why couldn't we stay in the nice warm coffee shop again?"<p>

He took a careful sip of his coffee, letting the hot liquid warm him up as they walked away from Harbucks.

"Any longer and you would have been caught staring at Karen." And then Ike was choking on said coffee.

"I-" A couple coughs interrupted his defense. "I-I was _not_ staring!" The noirette glared at his friend. Georgie wasn't smirking, but he could practically _see_ it in his eyes as he glanced sideways at Ike. He didn't even lift a finger to help him, what an asshole.

"You admit you were looking then."

"S-So what if I was!" He tried to recompose himself, drinking more of his coffee to rid himself of the stutter and blush forming.

"An actual confession to your stolen glances then. So when're you gonna ask her out?" He then gasped dramatically, giving Ike a shocked look. "Unless... Unless _Mr. Genius_ _Ladykiller _is too _shy_ to ask her out!" His face had a _you're a lost cause _written all over it as he heaved a heavy sigh.

Ike felt his eye twitch. "K.G... I'm warning you..."

"Oh I'm sorry. I'm being inconsiderate." He slammed his fist against his palm in a _I've got it!_ hand motion. "You're not being shy, you're strategically letting her ask _you_ out first aren't you." He smiled, eyes laughing as he saw Ike resist the urge to punch his lights out right then and there. "Alright, I got it. I got it." He said in a mockery of a placating manner.

The poor boy was allowed all but half a second of rest before his friend continued his teasing.

K.G placed a hand under his chin in contemplation. "But who knows how long _that'll_ take." Then he gave a smirk, dark orbs gleaming as he stared Ike right in the eye. "Oh! Lucky for you, your best friend has a solution." He paused for dramatic effect.

"..And what would that be." He found himself asking before properly thinking how badly it could play out. The Canadian all but ground out his words.

"I'll just speed up the process by asking her for you-" Ike growled, and K.G interrupted him before he could physically harm the lankier teen. "I'm sorry, my bad." He waited for Ike to calm down before continuing. "I'll tell her to ask _you_ out instead, then everything can go according to plan." He saw the punch coming and quickly stepped back.

Coffee was forgotten as Ike opted for _beating the living shit_ out of the other boy. Unfortunately for him, K.G had been planning this from the beginning and sidestepped his first swing. The goth then proceeded to step forward and deliver a hard kick to the inside of his ankle, sweeping his foot out to knock the hockey-player off balance.

"Fuck-" He cursed before his face made contact with the pile of snow beside the sidewalk. In seconds K.G was chuckling as he retreated to the coffee shop.

"You'll thank me for this!" He waved back with the same goddamn smirk.

Ike recovered quickly, shooting him the sharpest glare. "I swear to God if you enter that fucking coffee shop-"

The bell jingled as the door opened.

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><p>"Goodbye!" The brunette tossed over her shoulder as she stormed out. K.G had barely stepped aside fast enough to avoid being run over. Karen had broken into a sprint, taking the easiest and fastest route away from the coffee shop. Seeing as the goth had jumped aside to dodge the quickly swinging door, the girl ended up taking a sharp turn. She didn't realize quickly enough where she was running and therefore, gracefully tripped over Ike's leg. "Crap-!"<p>

She struggled to get up as quickly as possible, spluttering out apologies repeatedly. "It's not your fault, it's ok, are you alright?" He found himself blurting out in response as he scrambled to stand up as well.

"Yea, the snow broke my fall." She started babbling looking anywhere but at Ike as her face remained a pink tint from her conversation with Ruby. Her eyes quickly scanned over the spilt coffee on the sidewalk. "I'm sorry about your coffee um, how about I buy you a new one?" She squeaked out the first thing that came to mind, the words sinking in a split second after she blurted them out. Her eyes instantly flickered to his face to gauge his reaction.

Ike blushed at the sudden intense focus she placed on him. "What, uh that wasn't your fault it's fine-"

"So is that a no?" She frowned, adjusting her backpack strap. "I still feel responsible and I don't mind treating you-"

"No!" He wanted to kick himself. "I mean yes and no. Uh, yes I'd love to have coffee with you and no, you don't have to treat me it really is fine, I can pay for myself-"

She held up a hand to silence him. "I am the one at fault, just let me buy your coffee."

"But-"

"No buts, I am paying and that is final. If you have any problems, treat me to something else later." All sense of embarassment left her as stubborness won out.

"...ok but.." Ike glanced over back at Harbucks.

"What did I just say?" Karen said while looking back at the shop as well.

They both faltered, hesitating as they remembered that their best friends were still inside.

"...I know a place a couple blocks away-" They both blinked realizing they had spoken at the same time. Mirrored smiles spread across their faces as they started heading down the sidewalk.

"So this place you mentioned..."

"It wouldn't happen to have a spastic owner, would it?" Ike finished as they both laughed.

"Yes, why yes I think it does."

The pair reached the coffee shop in no time. Ike was ordered to pick a table while she pulled out her wallet to pay for their drinks. A couple minutes later and she plopped right into the seat next to him, holding out the promised coffee.

"Thanks." He laughed as she stared at him with eyes that _dared_ him to make any complaint over her footing the bill.

Karen smirked in approval, tilting her cup in his direction as a toast. "You're very welcome. Merry Christmas, Ike."

He tapped his cup against hers. "Merry Christmas, Karen."

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><p><strong><span>AN:** It's so late. I'm so late. This is published late, I missed Christmas by like 4 hours. _O__ops. _So anyway, K.G is kindergoth if that wasn't clear. Here's to another IkeKaren fic for the year! Yaaaaay! Maybe next time I won't be late! (I think I've been saying this since year two, oh well).

Thank you for reading and hope you had a wonderful holiday~


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